“Yes, she is.” Anja buried her hand in Gino’s fluffy fur—the same hand that had held on to Susanne’s earlier today. She could still feel the warmth of her skin and the reassuring pressure of her fingers as Susanne had led her up the observation tower. Before she could think too deeply about what had happened—or almost happened—up on the crow’s nest, she shook herself out of her daze. Only then did she realize what she’d just said. “I mean, she seems like a very nice woman, but she lives in Berlin, and if she’s anything like her sister, she has no intention of moving to Freiburg. Plus Susanne said she’s a big flirt. Heck, she even flirted with me when she came to the store yesterday.”

“Hold your horses. I never said I want to marry her. You know me. I’m the queen of casual dating and hot sex. I’ll leave that whole happily-ever-after commitment thing to you. But you have to admit that she’s cute…and hot.” Miri fanned herself with both hands. “And one hell of a kisser.”

Anja’s head jerked around. “You…” She lowered her voice so the other passengers wouldn’t be able to listen in. “You kissed her?”

“Well, technically, she kissed me, but I wasn’t exactly an unwilling participant.” Miri flashed her a grin.

“Christ, Miri! You’ve known her for all of…what?” She glanced at her wristwatch. “Five hours?”

“So?” Miri turned in her seat to face her. “Anja, you know I love you to death, but you and I…we’re very different people. If I see something I want, be it a promotion at work or a kiss, I go after it, while you…”

“While I…what?” Anja prompted when Miri fell silent.

“While you hesitate and double-check and think about it for so long that by the time you finally make up your mind, your chance is gone.”

Was that what had happened up there on the crow’s nest? “Well, thinking about it first before jumping in with both feet is a good thing, isn’t it? Otherwise, you could make a mistake that you’ll end up regretting.”

“So what if you make a mistake or two?” As they approached Betzenhausen, Miri pressed the button for the streetcar to stop and nudged her to get up. “That’s life. Without taking a few risks, you miss out on so many good things.”

Anja followed her out of the streetcar. “Who says I’m not taking risks?”

“When was the last time you kissed someone? And I’m talking about an I-want-to-tear-your-clothes-off kind of kiss, not just a friendly peck on the cheek.”

Anja’s mind flashed back to that moment on the crow’s nest, with her hands on Susanne’s hips and Susanne’s breath on her lips. That was not a kiss. It was just…a momentary confusion.